The forbidden fruit was not a literal fruit. God warned Adam and Eve not to commit adultery with the people from the land of Nod, in what is now Syria and Iraq. No, the pair were not the only humans on the planet. But I know that the traditional religionists will crap their pants over this.

The Book of Enoch 31:4, purporting to be written by the antediluvian prophet Enoch, describes the Tree of Knowledge: "It was like a species of the tamarind tree, bearing fruit which resembled grapes extremely fine; and its fragrance extended to a considerable distance. I exclaimed, How beautiful is this tree, and how delightful is its appearance!" In the Talmud, Rabbi Meir says that the fruit was a grape (Brachot 40a). Some commentators suggest that Eve actually made, and drank, wine.

Also in the Talmud, Rabbi Nechemia says that the fruit was a fig. Adam and Eve used fig leaves to cover themselves after eating the fruit (Genesis 3:7). Perhaps this was because the leaves were nearby, or perhaps it shows God creating the cure before the illness, i.e. the same tree that caused the problem was then used to remedy it. Another explanation lies within the "fruit" of the fig tree, the fig itself, which is not actually a fruit but rather a flower of sorts, serving as the tree's genitalia.

Another Talmudic interpretation, expressed by Rabbi Yehuda, is that the fruit was wheat.

In Western Christian art, the fruit is most commonly depicted as an apple. One possible reason for this arises from a medieval pun. It was a source of humor to monks that the Latin word for evil was similar to the word for apple. Thus it was often said that by eating the malum (apple), Eve contracted malus (evil). There is, however, no textual or historical evidence by which to argue the literalness of this image.

Ethno-botanists have proposed the iboga plant (Tabernanthe iboga) as the Tree of Knowledge. The ground up bark contains a dissociative substance, ibogaine, which has been traditionally used in Bwiti religious ceremony in Central Africa. Other hallucinogens, in particular the Fly agaric mushroom, have also been proposed as the Tree. The Coptic Christians of Jamaica and the Rastafarians believe it to be the marijuana plant.

. . . in the Talmud, Rabbi Nechemia says that the fruit was a fig. Adam and Eve used fig leaves to cover themselves after eating the fruit (Genesis 3:7). Perhaps this was because the leaves were nearby, or perhaps it shows God creating the cure before the illness, i.e. the same tree that caused the problem was then used to remedy it. . .

Fig leaves never were, nor are the cure:

When Christ saw Adam and Eve with their fig leaves and no fruit, how helpless they must have seemed to Him. After sinning, Adam and Eve were now subject to the law of sin and death, and the Lord God pronounced judgment upon them. Standing there with only leaves, a type of secular humanism, Christ clothed them with animal skins with the first animal sacrifice as substitution for their sin, showing them that man needed blood to cover sin; man needed a Savior.Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them [Gen 3:21].

How helpless and naked do we seem to Jesus if He sees only leaves? In no way can we hope to save ourselves. Jesus is the only One who can clothe us in righteousness and save us from this present world that Adam and Eve lost to Satan.

Jesus would be the ultimate sacrifice to save us from Adam's sin by substituting Adam's/our death on the cross, and His resurrection became our resurrection if we have faith and believe.

Has anyone mentioned the awakening of the bicameral mind theory, yet ?

The strange story of the temptation in the Garden of Eden suggests that some kind of genetic manipulation was going on. Notice that Lucifer appears to Eve as a serpent, the symbol of the kundalini, also known as the genetic helix. The eating of the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Life changes both Eve and later Adam so they "be as God." In Genesis 3:22 God seems to be talking to the gods when he says "behold, the man is become as one of us."

The genetic work produced the bicameral brain, capable of making mankind like the gods. Lucifer's goal has always been to advance mankind to the point of god consciousness.

the forbidden fruit was meat. when early humans ingested meat and received a high protein diet their brains became bigger and thinking improved. they came down out of the trees and started hunting game and became knowledgeable.

.A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell.

Has anyone mentioned the awakening of the bicameral mind theory, yet ?

The strange story of the temptation in the Garden of Eden suggests that some kind of genetic manipulation was going on. Notice that Lucifer appears to Eve as a serpent, the symbol of the kundalini, also known as the genetic helix. The eating of the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Life changes both Eve and later Adam so they "be as God." In Genesis 3:22 God seems to be talking to the gods when he says "behold, the man is become as one of us."

The genetic work produced the bicameral brain, capable of making mankind like the gods. Lucifer's goal has always been to advance mankind to the point of god consciousness.

Quoting: Anonymous Coward 2996

YES!

You are my shining apple among a sea ofbananas (and other less shiny fruit)!

With the ability to write, came the ability to deceive. People can be deceived through spoken words, but written words multiply deceptive powers immeasurably: - Written words don't flinch under cross examination. - Written words don't change their stories. - Written words can be perceived by more people than spoken words, through books and other written instruments. - Written words can be organized more carefully than spoken words.

It took several generations from the time that the serpent taught Eve to write, to the fruition of the deception: the Law of Moses.

God's true law consists of only two commandments, neither of which needs to be written: "Love God" and "Love your neighbor".

The Law of Moses includes the true law of God: "Love God" in Deuteronomy, Ch 6, v 4; and "Love your neighbor" in Leviticus, Ch 19, v 18. But everything else in the Old Testament is a written deception from Satan, carried out by mankind. "Love God" and "Love your neighbor" are the ONLY valid scripture in the entire Old Testament.

God does not have the ability to write. We can only contact God through our consciences. The "fall of mankind" is the belief that God's law needs to be written. God only needs two laws, and, although they are written in the Old Testament, we ALREADY KNEW them to be true BEFORE they were written.

Jesus was well aware of Moses' deception. Jesus declared the two verses that define God's true law, as God's ONLY commandments (Matthew, Ch 22, v 40).

Jesus also knew that the Law of Moses was an oxymoron, that defined itself to be invalid. The Law of Moses declares only one God, yet relies on the authority of Moses, a man. Jesus rendered the Old Testament invalid with his question to the Pharisees that they could not answer: "Was Moses a God or a man?" With Jesus' declaration that the Old Testament was invalid, Jesus also declared the three religions that rely on the Old Testament to be invalid: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (Bet you won't hear THAT in church!).

genesis is not the real name of the first book of the bible. The book of genesis does not explain how God created the earth and the heavens.It is not the story of creation. The heavens mentioned is not the universe we see at night in the sky. And there is a lot more.....